


What We Take Away

by raiyuki76



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Aftercare, BDSM, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Healing, F/M, Not sure how old Percy is right now, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape, Spoilers for Campaign One, Torture, Underage Rape/Non-con, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-21 21:37:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14293968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiyuki76/pseuds/raiyuki76
Summary: Anna Ripley needed answers, and she would do whatever it took to get them. Percy is left with the scars, and Vex tries, years later, to help him heal.Takes place both before, and after Campaign One. Spoilers abound!





	1. Chapter One

Percy woke up slowly, his mind seeming very determined to stay unconscious. His head throbbed and his body ached all over, but he wasn't safe; he knew he aught to be awake. But he just wanted to sleep, to not care. He craved the silent nothingness that would give him a respite from the dull pain that currently filled his form. But he wasn't safe... He struggled with this internal battle for several minutes before he heard subtle movement off to one side. 

His eyes opened suddenly and he was confronted by a lack of sight, his eyelashes brushing up against fabric secured over his face. A slight well of panic began to grow in his chest as he tried to pull the fabric away, only to find himself struggling uselessly against rough metal bonds. 

He couldn't see. He couldn't move. And now, he was having trouble breathing. He tried to assess the situation, but found focusing difficult. But it was very important that he figure out as much as he could, so he fought to control his breathing, as his mother had always taught him.

And the memories flooded back in. He remembered the dinner, seeming to be just like any other. And he remembered the screams and the blood. The sounds of Julius falling and Vesper crying out rang in his ears and the sight of Dr. Ripley leaning over his form filled his mind. He lost all control of his breathing as he suddenly recalled everything that had occurred in the last few days. 

A firm hand rested itself on his stomach, weighing him down and reminding him how to breath. It was strange, that something so helpful and reassuring would happen now. It was something his mother did when his anxiety would spike as a child. But his mother was gone...

“Breath boy. I want you awake,” a voice said, quietly but firmly, breaking through the screams that were slowly fading in his mind. Percy knew that voice, and all semblance of warmth and comfort left him. 

But in a strange way, it worked. He got control of his breathing, and for the first time since he woke up, he was able to take note of his situation. He was able to assess everything around him like he had been trying to do ever since his eyes opened. 

The first thing that he knew was that Dr. Anna Ripley stood above him, helping him to breath as if she actually cared for him. Percy knew better though. Ripley wanted information. That was the only reason he was alive. Her touch was gentle now, but every ache, pain, and burn on his body was thanks to her and her quest for knowledge. He should have known that she would be near by. He pushed his mind away from her though. What really mattered was everything else holding him down. 

The most obvious obstruction was to his sight. Dark fabric was wound around his head and eyes, and only the slightest bit of light could break through, right where the fabric sat on his nose. Even when he tried to see, everything was a blur, and the minuscule opening over his nose was not enough to glimpse anything beyond.

The next thing he observed were the restraints that held him down. His arms were confined with rough manacles, whose chains extended to the edges of whatever surface he was laid out on, allowing him minimal movement. His ankles were bound as well, and large straps of some form stretched across his chest and thighs, keeping him flat. It was as he tested the binds that a realization occurred.

He was completely naked. The restraints touched only bare skin, and the rough texture of stone rubbed uncomfortably against his back. He felt fabric above him though, as if some blanket had been thrown over him. Perhaps that was why he hadn't noticed it before. 

He could feel embarrassment and vulnerability suddenly mount in a way it had not before. Ripley had spent hours yesterday (was it yesterday? He had slept, but for how long?) beating and tearing him apart for information, yet only now did he feel desperation. 

His thoughts were wrenched from him though as he heard her low chuckle and felt her hand lift from where it had been sitting. He could hear her move away from him, to elsewhere in the chamber. The workroom, he corrected in his mind... It had just been a spare workroom before she had taken it and defiled it with her bloody work. 

His thoughts shifted to what she had done, and what she had asked, before he had passed out. He had heard of basic forms of torture before, but Ripley was more creative then he had ever imagined. She had beaten him, tore into him, and burned him, but then, she began to use his own chemicals and acid to accentuate the pain already there. She played with the poisons and antidotes from the local apothecary, drugs from far off slums, and various forms of magic cast from her own hands. She also toyed with the cures to each ailment she attacked him with, delaying his relief to the last second each time. 

She clearly didn't want him dead yet. He couldn't fathom what she thought he knew, but she still waited expectantly for him to break. Her questions had been simple and basic at first. She asked about the layout of the castle, about where people would hide during danger, and where valuables and components were kept. At first, Percy had resisted out of spite. But he couldn't last forever, and what good would these things do him now? 

The first words he spoke had been insistence that he knew nothing. He stayed in his room and read books all day. What could he possibly know? But they fell of deaf ears and he couldn't bear it to say anything he did know on the matter. So he fell silent, only breaking the muteness to scream in pain. And when he couldn't resist any longer, he began to talk. He was always careful to only share what was common knowledge. He told her things that any of the servants would know, or perhaps what a disinterested child may know. He never shared what he, the curious little sprite who had found every nook and cranny in the old castle, would know. And at first, it was enough to gain him little breaks. 

But then... the questions turned strange, and infinitely more specific. She asked about his work, about the chemical properties of the stone of the castle, and about the architecture of his home. Unfortunately, he knew a lot about these topics. His curiosity had often gotten the better of him, his desire to know everything there was about the natural world driving much of his early life. But why? Why would she want to know this?

He made the mistake of responding with sarcasm. He should have known better. He should have stayed consistent. The pained got ramped up and the questions became more pointed. She could tell he knew something, and she wouldn't be satisfied until she won. 

She brought up the Residuum again. He had been so foolish to mention it at dinner. He never told anyone of his experiments, especially such incomplete ones as accidentally formed minerals that cost about as much as the family coffers. But there she was, a beautiful, albeit older woman interested in science and reason and what he, the family weirdo, was doing in his workshop full of chemicals and apparatuses. He had been flattered. Now, she literally hovered over his tortured body, demanding to know more. 

His thoughts of her past transgressions were forced from his mind as she spoke once more, her voice the content purr of a villain whose plan was going just the right way. “Percival, I'm glad you're awake. I have some more questions for you,” she said, her voice fading slightly as she moved away from him. He turned his head towards her, trying desperately to get some bearing of his surroundings in his blinded state. 

“What the hell is this?” he demanded, voice still weak and hoarse from screaming before. She tutted and ignored his question.

“We're on a somewhat tight schedule and I need you to tell me about the stone,” she continued, matter-of-factly. He could hear her footsteps now, and he realized that she had taken pains to be quiet before. She moved back towards the slab that he was laid out on and he felt a sudden growing fear. 

Perhaps he would learn eventually. “Two carat on a rose gold band,” he said, rattling off a bad joke as he tried to hide the fear in his voice. She had been expecting it though. 

A sudden smack of pain hit him across his abdomen, driving the air from his lungs as his body fought to curl inwards with the strike. Whatever tool she had hit him with recoiled instantly from his body and didn't come down again. The sharp pain faded to a strange sense of nausea and a dull ache as he tried to breath. 

“Go ahead, get the jokes out now,” she whispered, her voice frighteningly close to his ear. He wasn't sure what drove him to it, but he spit in her general direction. He wondered if he had missed or not as he was immediately hit again, this time across his thighs. The second hit stung, but it lacked the stunning force that the first hit had. 

And so things went on. Percy was unnerved by how seemingly simple everything was. She asked all the same questions, and responded with comparably weaker force then the day before, regardless of how he answered. But rather then finding relief, he found himself even more unsettled. She had yet to uncover his eyes, nor remove the blanket, and he couldn't fathom this change not having some form of meaning. 

However, slowly but surely, she reached the end of her repeated questions. Percy breathed heavily as his body ached from the beating force of various tools of bludgeoning. His heart was starting to race as he realized the significance of the sudden silence. 

“Very well,” the doctor's voice said in a frighteningly gleeful way. “Time for another experiment.” 

This was what he had feared. The experiments had consistently been the worse so far. Ripley would flip through various pages of a book, do some strange and terrible thing to him and then let him sit in his pain as she wrote down “results”. 

“Do you know the effects of sensory deprivation?” she asked, almost as if she were a tutor teaching a standard lesson. Percy tried not to think about it, before suddenly realizing that the answers to his questions lay within this conversation. But did he really want to play along? There was silence, as she waited for his answer.

“Dull one sense, and the others are... heightened,” he muttered hoarsely as realization hit. Of course... She took away his sight so that his sense of touch would be intensified. So that the pain would be intensified... 

“Good boy,” she whispered close to his ear. He felt a shiver of vulnerability as he felt her breath against his skin, disgusted at her patronizing words whispered like a cherished secret. He didn't have time to react to her words before the blanket draped across him was suddenly ripped away. 

The wave of cold was accompanied by his body immediately jerking forward in an attempt to cover himself, only to be impeded by the bonds holding him tight to the table. He felt himself flushing with embarrassment, but he had no time to focus on it before burning hot liquid poured onto his stomach, dripping down his sides as he let out a pained gasp. 

It had to be wax, from the way it burned and hardened. She had used it before. He let out a few curses as he fought his restraints anew, doing anything to respond and react to the pain. He had learned early on that if he tried to stay quiet during times like this, he'd often break the silence with words he regretted. 

“Just answer my questions Percival,” Ripley said with barely subdued excitement. He could only shake his head as the wax slowly hardened. There were only a few seconds more before hot wax poured onto his legs, causing him to cry out again. 

“How did you do it?” she demanded. 

“Fuck you,” he retorted, mind blurring momentarily from the pain. There was silence before the sound of something being set down on another table reached his ears. 

“How funny you should say that.”

It took him a moment to make the connection, which she waited for patiently, and then cold fear hit him like a brick. No... No, that's not... 

“You see, I had this suggested to me for a reason, and Anders assured me it would catch you off guard.” Her voice was saccharine venom and close by again, and it drove him further into that fear. He clamped his mouth shut, determined to not give her any more tools to use against him. 

“And all I will say Percival, is that you can stop this at any time,” she whispered in his ear as her hand settled on his bare chest, cold fingers sliding under the strap that held him down. He began to shiver violently as his hands searched desperately for anything to hold on to so he wouldn't draw his own blood with tightly clenched fists. 

“All you have to do,” her voice said as her hands turned and began to travel lower. “Is tell me how you made the stone.” 

Percy cringed away from her touch, but there was no where to go. The restraints held tight no matter how hard he fought, and he couldn't help but let out a strangled gasp when her prying fingers reached his crotch. 

“No,” he whispered futilely as he tried to pull away, but an unexpected weight on his hips held him still. Surprisingly soft fabric accompanied the new pressure, and he realized with a unsteady gasp that Ripley was leaning across his stomach. No. No. No.

Percy struggled uselessly as firm fingers wrapped around his dick, which was beginning to harden, to his immense shame. No... he didn't want this! Stop it!

Percy felt her gentle but firm hand begin to stroke his shaft and he let out a choking sound as his stomach tried to revolt. He tried to focus on anything else, but there were no other sensations to distract him. He pulled on his restraints, as hard as he could, trying vainly to focus on the pain around his wrists as opposed to the feeling of her hand on his dick. 

“Stop it,” he said, his voice a pathetic whisper in the sudden silence of the room. She didn't listen, her fingers reaching down to gently massage his balls. How could such a mild touch hurt him so much more than the beatings and burning he had felt before?

“Tell me what I want to know,” she sang, once again getting that happy lilt that she got whenever an “experiment” was good in her mind. She shifted slightly, never removing her hand from him. 

Percy felt so many things in that moment besides just her hand. He felt shameful, and dirty, and a level of vulnerable that he had never experienced before. He was defenseless beneath her as she violated him.

“Please... please stop,” he whimpered, falling to a low he had always been determined to avoid. He had refused to beg. He had screamed and groaned and cried before her, but he had never begged. 

There was a pause, and a shift. Percy felt the tiniest hint of relief as she finally stopped touching him. It wouldn't be over yet, but he could just imagine her twisted and pleased smile at that simple word. She had asked him at one point before, to beg her to stop, and he had spit in her face. But retaliation was swift.

He let out a shuddering gasp as something warm and wet slid over the shaft of his dick. He struggled more, whispering repeatedly “no” and “please”. He couldn't focus on the pain of his struggle any more. He couldn't distract himself from the feeling of her tongue as it swirled around his shaft. He didn't feel the blindfold growing wet, or his arms and legs shaking violently in protest. He could only feel her.

To his shame, he felt pleasure, and he couldn't turn away. He felt a climax building, and he couldn't bear it. He couldn't let himself do that, but he couldn't stop it.

“Acid!” he yelled out, feeling his heart sink as the word echoed through the workroom. Ripley stopped her perverse work. He couldn't... he couldn't let her... He had to...

Ripley pulled away from him, sliding off the table and patting his chest in a patronizing way as he fought to control himself, his mind a desperate mess. His chest was heaving as he tried to breath and his hands and legs trembled beneath the straps. 

“Good... boy,” she whispered, slowly and deliberately in his ear. Her words held a hint of wonderment, as her own keen mind found all the pieces falling into place. She exits in a rush, leaving him to the biting cold and burning shame.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna stopped moving as that one word echoed through her workspace. The boy shivered violently beneath her and his chest heaved as she considered the answer he had finally given her. She pulled away slowly, as piece after piece fell into place in her mind. 

Of course... he discovered it by accident and began to refine... acid spilled on his stone floors would do just the trick... acid breaking down the minerals... and a wave of ideas flowed into her mind. She had experiments to run.

The thought of experiments brought her attention back to the present. She looked down at the boy as she stood up next to the table with a smile on her face. 

His skin was blushing and already bruising, and a sheen of sweat covered his shivering body. The same sweat soaked his brown hair and the blindfold over his eyes appeared damp. His wrists were red and beginning to swell from where he had pulled in vain against his bonds. He was so young. And what little she could see of his face... it was wonderful, seeing that despair finally take him. 

Oh how effective rape had been. From the moment he woke up, he had been deliciously on edge, and she enjoyed watching him slowly relax, right in time for the big reveal. He had become so much more responsive, so much less defiant, as if by defiling him, she had taken away all will to resist. It was enlightening. 

She leaned in close, knowing how near she needed to be for him to feel her breath on his neck. “Good boy,” she whispered in delight. She watched as he shuddered away from her. She could see the shame as clearly as if the blind fold wasn't there to hide his face. 

And she walked away, taking joy in the cold of the room she left him in. As the door shut behind her, she considered how long to leave him in the unheated room, covered in sweat and wearing no cloths. He had given her one answer, but there were still more to come. 

She'd come back eventually, and resume her work. The biting cold could keep him company as she experimented to see how the white stone responded to acid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feedback is welcomed


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I apologize for such a long wait. I ended up heavily editing this chapter, and when you have to wait for your betas to respond, it can draw things out. And advice for anyone writing BDSM; definitely find a beta who is actually in the community. It helps, a lot. It doesn't matter how much research you do, there are often insights that are very important if you're going for accuracy. If you don't care about accuracy though, well, carry on.

Vex'halia watched as Percy laid down on the stone slab, his face half obscured by the blindfold. She could still see the twisted expression of fear on his tight lips as he prepared himself to face his memories. Her own heart thudded in her chest and even though this sort of play wasn't her thing, it was for Percy, so she would do it. She hoped to Pelor that it would work. 

She took the heavy manacles and locked them around her husband's pale wrists, a sight she hadn't seen since she had first met the man. She watched his chest rise and fall at a more rapid pace as she laid a heavy strap over it, and she was careful as she cinched it tight. He was already beginning to shake as he became more and more restricted, though he was getting better every day at controlling his anxiety. With the fight with Vecna over, they could finally begin to relax and heal. 

She watched his face as she gently handed him a small steel bell. It was strong enough that he would not crush it, which had been their first concern when considering a signal. She then took the heavy blanket next to her and draped it across his form. 

Vex noted how severely out of her element she was here. She had experience with bondage and blind folds but never like this. Especially not with Percy. He had always been fine with trying new things, so long as he wasn't tied down. Bondage, of all things, had always been his hard limit, and she had never known why until recently. 

And oh, how angry she had become when she found out. Retroactive protectiveness didn't help her any though, and with Ripley already dead, there was little either of them could do about it. But then, Vex heard about this strange sort of coping mechanism, and surprisingly enough, Percy agreed. Everyone was trying to heal and move on, and now he finally had time to face those lingering demons in his heart. 

Everything was in place now, and Vex stood back, waiting in silence for Percy to be ready. She knew he was pulling up the memories from that night, willingly bringing himself into that darkness he had tried to avoid for so long. His breathing grew more rapid as he pulled against the manacles on his wrists.

“I'm ready,” he whispered, his voice shaking slightly. Vex took a deep breath, and counted to ten. Percy fought against the bonds more as she waited, making the metal clank loudly against stone as he struggled. 

At the end of her count, Vex stepped forward and placed her hand on his stomach, as he had told her, applying pressure and trying to ignore the feeling of him flinching away. She leaned in.

“Breathe boy. I want you awake,” she whispered into his ear. He pulled away from her again, and it hurt her heart to see him so afraid. She had known that this wasn't exactly her thing, but the reality of what she was doing was much harder than she had imagined. 

She gave him time once more, watching as he gained control of his breathing. It was so strange, seeing him so scared and vulnerable. He had expressed his anxieties before, but then, it had always been with slightly shaken words. Here, he was silent, yet his body language told her so much. It was interesting, yet so sad, and it re-awoke the burning rage in her heart. She fought to control herself, to present herself as the monster she hated. She had to, for this to work.

“Percival? I'm glad you're awake. I have some questions for you,” she said as she turned and walked towards another table. It was laden with other tools they would need, including a simple, stout walking stick, and a small bowl of wax suspended above a candle. She took the stick in her hand and examined it as Percy spoke up.

“What the hell is this?” he demanded, his voice quiet and strained. She knew the lines, yet they still felt foreign to her. 

“We're on a tight schedule, and I need you to tell me about the Residuum,” Vex said, trying to sound cold and distant. Her grip on the walking stick tightened as she waited, remembering how Percy had described the scene to her before. 

“No,” he responded. Vex only hesitated for a second before bringing the walking stick down across his stomach. She knew he could take it. She had watched him get shot, bitten, stabbed, and thrown through the air. She even had potions near by just in case. She had even flogged him before, during more relaxed play. But this... was different. It felt wrong, but they were here for a reason, and she wouldn't stop until he told her to. 

So she began to ask the questions, using the stick to beat him after each one. He resisted, violently. He spat in her general direction, cursed her, and struggled against the chains. Vex worried about his wrists, knowing that the manacles would rub them raw, but she continued. He never dropped the bell, and never used their safe word. 

Then, she reached the end of the questions. She took a deep breath and gave them both a moment, working to prepare herself for the next step. She hadn't been ready for how mentally exhausting this scene was, and she very quietly took a sip of water. 

Percy lay silently on the table, chest heaving as he breathed deeply, his arms falling slack as he too, took the break as a moment to relax. Vex knew he was wound up tight, and she wondered for a moment how long the scene would continue. She hoped, for his sake, not too much longer.

After a moment, she spoke up. “Very well,” she said, trying to twist her voice into something evilly happy. “It's time for an experiment.” 

She watched as Percy tensed up at those words, and began anew to pull against the chains holding him down. She wondered for a moment just how lost in his memories he was. Would he even remember that he had the bell in his hand? She pushed the doubt away the moment it surfaced in her mind. This was Percy after all.

“Do you know what sensory deprivation is?” she asked. She had heard of the topic before, and had even experienced it before. She hadn't thought of the potential at the time, especially not like this. Her thoughts were interrupted as Percy spoke up.

“Dull one sense, and others are heightened,” he muttered slowly, almost to himself. His voice was still strained and Vex took a second to acknowledge the moment as they both steeled themselves for what was about to come. 

Vex felt that tiny wave of discomfort deep in her heart as she leaned in close to Percy's ear, but she continued on with the act. “Good boy,” she whispered as she prepared for the next step. 

She moved quickly. It made it a little easier. She pulled the blanket off and reached for the bowl of wax on the table. They had been careful to select a wax that wouldn't burn too badly. She wondered for a moment exactly what it would feel like, but was distracted when she turned back and saw her husband tied up before her. 

She had always imagined that Percy would look wonderful tied up, but she had never pushed it. In a way, she vaguely feared that this scene would ruin that little fantasy. It didn't. 

The manacles were dark against his pale skin, and his muscles flexed as he pulled against the chains. Tiny shadows cast from his many scars flickered in the fire light. But there was less defiance here than she had expected. By the time she had gotten to truly see him, he was already in the position of fear and vulnerability. It was strange, and she was unsure how she truly felt about it. But... she had a job to do. 

She poured half of the bowl out onto his stomach and tried to ignore his sharp cry of pain that he only barely muffled. “Just answer my questions,” she demanded. He shook his head back and forth and breathed strained curses. She waited a moment before pouring the rest of the wax across his legs. Yeah, this sort of play definitely wasn't her preference.

“Fuck!” Percy said, his voice raising in response to the pain. Vex knew that it wasn't as bad as it had been before, but she also knew that Percy's memories could very well be making it feel worse. That or perhaps he was reacting more then necessary for the sake of the scene? It was hard for her to tell in this moment, but he hadn't dropped the bell yet, so she continued.

“How did you do it?” she asked, still waiting for the cue while simultaneously trying hard to remember the exact words Percy had told her to use as a response. 

Planning this scene had definitely been strange. Percy had frighteningly clear memories of the night that Ripley had done this to him. He had been worried that recreating it would only work if everything was accurate. Vex wondered if this was what was meant when she had heard about this form of play. Regardless, Percy had requested accuracy, so she would strive to provide, even if it made her stomach squirm. 

“Fuck you!” Percy yelled, his voice raising again. There was the cue. Vex took a silent breath.

“How funny you should say that,” she said, her voice sounding so strange to her ears. She watched as Percy began to shake more violently, his mouth twisting into a tight line as he pulled against his restraints. 

“You see, this was suggested to me for a reason, and Anders assured me that it would catch you off guard,” she said, trying to remember Anna Ripley's tone and inflections from when they had last met. To be fair, she'd been pretty distracted with trying not to die last time. 

And this part... It was important. To her specifically, if not to Percy. “I will say, Percival, you can stop this at any time,” she whispered into his ear. She rested her hand on his chest and felt how hard he was breathing and how badly he was shaking. 

“Remember, you can stop this at any time,” she repeated as her hand began to travel lower on his stomach. She lingered slightly on one or two of his scars, running gentle fingers along them as she moved further south. She had done things like that before. She enjoyed tracing his many scars, just as he did for her. But this time, she felt a weight in her stomach that kept her from savouring it. She couldn't bring herself to enjoy this moment. Not when he was quivering like this. 

“All you have to do,” she said, pointedly ignoring his whispered words of “no” and “stop”, “is tell me how you made the stone.” A grating sound of metal against stone gave her pause to wonder how long the table would last. Percy wasn't as strong as Grog, but he wasn't a push over either. And he was truly fighting with all of his might now. But he didn't drop the bell. 

Vex reached out next, taking his already hardening dick in her hand. Percy jerked from her grasp though, pulling as far away from her as possible. Oh right. She had forgotten. She leaned down across his legs, pinning his hips down in a way where she could still see his face and tightly clenched fists. She took his dick again, firmly, but gentle. 

She watched as his mouth quivered and she saw a tiny hint of dampness to the blindfold over his eyes. She suddenly felt an urge deep in her heart to stop then. It was wearing her down, watching his face and seeing his fear and shame written all over him. She couldn't imagine how vivid the memories were, but if she knew anything about her Percy, his mind probably wasn't being kind to him. Where she was a person who typically forgot the specifics of her past traumas, her husband always remembered every little detail. 

She pushed the doubt back, slower this time. A stubborn part of her mind kept telling herself that this would help. He had power over this situation. He could take control. But she had to let him. If she didn't, wouldn't this all be for nothing? She began to gently stroke her hand up and down the shaft of his dick, soft when she needed to and firmly when she knew it would feel good. 

Handjobs weren't really her thing either, but she knew them well enough to know what would feel nice. Though, she wasn't sure how that would feel to Percy right now, still wrapped in the memories from that night long ago. 

His mouth opened and he began to whimper quiet words that Vex could barely hear. It struck her just how openly scared he was now. She had seen him face down a literal god. He had even had the strength of mind to forgive that monster of a woman in his dying moment, facing his own death with calm and composure. Yet here he was, trembling beneath her like a vulnerable child. She leaned in, needing to hear those words, just in case they were...

“Please... Please stop.”

Her hand slowed down and stopped to rest at the base of his dick, holding it up still as she watched his face break into a momentarily peaceful look of respite. He was so open right now. So raw, and she could see every emotion on his face, despite his eyes being covered. But that was a cue, and she could already tell he was waiting. 

She leaned over and took the now hard dick in her mouth, eyes still looking up to watch for the bell. This was the moment of truth really. 

Vex swirled her tongue around the head in a way that she knew he normally liked. He had confided after some time, that he had been on the verge, that night long ago. He had almost finished, to his incredible shame. Perhaps she had to bring him closer to that edge first. 

It didn't take long. She could feel him getting closer. And then, the bell dropped. She could hear it, as it rolled out of his opened hand and fell. She saw a glint of reflective light in the semi-dark room before it disappeared somewhere on the unlit floor. And she stopped, immediately, a strange sense of relief filling her heart. 

She pulled away and quickly began to unlock the manacles holding his swollen wrists. The hand that had held the bell stayed open, as if waiting for something unpleasant. He didn't let it relax until both manacles were released from his wrists. 

She watched his whole body sag as she unlocked his ankles, relief washing so visibly over him that it helped calm her own mind. He didn't move as she pulled the metal away. She paused a moment, looking down at her husband and feeling a weight that she hadn't noticed lift off her own chest. She took a soft, warm blanket from near the fire and draped it over him, waiting for him to move. 

It took him a surprisingly long time before he sat up, though perhaps it just felt that way to her. He let his legs hang over the edge of the table and wrapped himself in the warmth of the blanket she had brought him. Then, his hands slowly moved up to remove the now very damp blindfold. 

His eyes were red and swollen, but surprisingly clear. Vex handed him his glasses, and he put them on slowly after taking a moment to rub his eyes, his breathing calming for the first time since they had begun the night. 

They sat in silence once again, and Vex felt a slight bubble of apprehension building inside of her. She knew it would probably take a moment before he felt comfortable speaking, yet despite her knowing that, she began to feel anxious.

“You should drink some water,” she whispered gently, letting her own voice filter back into place. “Would you like anything else with it?” she asked as she moved towards the second table. 

“Not yet. Just water,” he answered. Vex handed him a ceramic cup, and watched him drink from it before reaching out and taking a small jar of pale purple cream. She took the lid off and dipped her fingers into the healing balm and began to gently rub it into the red welts that wrapped around his wrists. Her fingers grew vaguely numb from the magic, and she knew the balm would be quickly healing the skin that he had damaged as he fought the restraints. It was strange... Aftercare never felt like atonement before. 

Percy let her work, silent, but watchful. When she finished, he took the jar of balm from her hands and placed it on the stone slab next to him. 

Then, he swept her up in a hug and held her close. Vex felt her heart lift as she wrapped her arms around him and held him back. 

“Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely in her ears. They held each other for a few moments more before Vex pulled gently away, looking down still. 

“Darling, I... well, would you say that it worked?” she asked as she finally looked up into his eyes.   
The red was still there, but that crystal clarity that also normally accompanied his gaze was back. Seeing that helped calm her mind, but she still waited intently for his answer. 

He looked down for a moment, considering his words carefully as he always did. Then, the slightest smile began to tug at the corner of his lips. “I believe so,” he said as his eyes came up to meet hers once more.

“Thank you,” he repeated slowly, pulling her into a hug once more. He held her there this time, tangling a hand into her hair and burying his face into her neck. Vex hesitated for just a moment. Then she melted into his hug. It felt so much more right than everything that had happened before in this night. 

Perhaps it had helped, letting him take control of that impossible situation. She was glad. She sighed happily into him as they held each other, one step closer to being whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go. I hope you all like it, and as always, comments and feedback make my world go round!

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you thought about my work in the comments below!
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